Comforting the comforter
by Anexandria
Summary: Allen wants to found out how Lavi deals with all terrible memories he has of the wars he's seen. But perhaps Lavi's having trouble too? Rated M for future events and swearing. Lots of spoilers and general anstyness on both parts . Laven later
1. Lavi

Okay so this is my first fanfic (And I'm very new to the whole concept so do bear with me ^^;) Any criticism would be lovely, so please do!

Bad title is bad. :'(

Setting... I guess... this is probably happening after the 171st chapter. So yessss, spoilers in 'ere. Apologies if anyone gets offended by "coppertop" I just prefer that to "redhead" . It seems to take a while to get started... sorry. Heavy referencing to 166th chapter in the start. (Promise that the rest will not continue like this)

_Dreams =italic_

I do not own -Man, or any of the characters...

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A door creaked, preceded by footsteps that slurred as they grazed across the room towards a cosy bed, and then another creak was heard when a figure with burning hair fell into its embrace. An eye, the colour of luscious grass, stared with great interest at the dancing flame in-cased in a lantern. The light given off gently illuminated the figure's appearance, showing an individual around the age of 18. Lose locks of his scarlet hair cascaded across masculine, yet delicate features. They were almost swallowed up by a peculiar looking, black eye-patch, worn over his right eye. A coal coloured bandana was hung loosely around his neck; on it were small green studs that reflected the light gracefully. Still viewing the drifting flame, a recurring thought pried into the boys mind 'As dazzling as your emotions and spirit seem to be, you might burn out just like the flames in a fire, Allen'. With that a shuffle was heard as the teenager lay in a suitable position for slumber. However, sleep wasn't the priority at this time. He felt like something was crushing his heart, attempting to remind him of his past 48 lives. Dispelling all the dreadful memories with a quick and painful twist to his wrist, he was able to clear his mind. After that, it didn't take long for the land of nod to catch him, perhaps 15 minutes or so.

_A single dull eye wondered around the luxurious room, covered in rich mahogany panels which gave off a sweet scent of polish and woodlands. In the centre stood 4 caped personnel, known as crows, they were congregated in a square formation joined together by paper charms. It appeared to look like a pen of which purpose was to hold a vicious creature within, however that fact was debateable._

"_Look after the boy, Lavi", the eye became duller as it peered down towards a diminutive, antique man. It was Bookman. A drop of sweat dripped from his temple and crumpled as it fell onto his eye-patch._

"_Oh...sure" he replied, timidly, knowing full well that he was to perform his true job as the Bookman's apprentice._

"_Enter!", the doors were flung open, held by two more crows. A petite boy harmlessly roamed into the room and through the pen of paper charms. Lavi recognised this boy as his beloved friend, Allen Walker, however he had to shake off the feeling 'No, he's just ink to me as a Bookman, be professional Lavi!'._

_A magical glow was given off from the charms surrounding Allen, revealing yet more charms completely covering his left arm. Accompanied by that was a traditional monks uniform which reached half way down his shin. The fabric fell endearingly around this teenager's body, showing the physique of a young man, but also an aura of unlimited strength. His colourless hair drank the glow and displayed it back with a hint of shimmering grey. A shocking, raw, scar sprawled up his face, over an eye and ended in a pentacle shape. Eyes comparable to the dark side of the moon stared directly through the back of another man's head. He, like Lavi, also had blazing hair, but instead of it merely caressing his face, it's surpassed that and lay down his back._

_The two exchanged words, strange looks and understanding with each other. Lavi merely had to listen to the comments, making sure he recorded it as 'hidden history'. Another drop of sweat collected on his brow, and then tumbled down his nose, this time caused by emotional strains in his mind. Allen, an exorcist he had grown to befriend, was having his emotions tortured by the man who he named Master and was clearly in distress. Lavi had to concentrate a great deal in order to remain unbiased, otherwise by now he would have possible projected his Innocence hammer into the Master's head._

_Everything appeared to be sailing fine until, "What if I told you...when you become the fourteenth you'll have to... kill... someone you care about?" Master's empty eyes felt as like they were leeching Allen's will power._

"_Heh heh, is that you then?" A snigger blurted out of Allen's mouth. Golden orbs looked up towards Master. From a distance teenager could only see an immense smile appear on Allen's face 'What the... Noah?" he shouted in response._

Two soft, yet striking knocks came from the door, waking Lavi from his sentimental slumber. The teen's body automatically jumped as he furiously searched the room to figure out what was going on. 'Ahh, it was just twisted memory from that day', reassuring himself. Like before all his attention was focus on the once fearsome flame, which was now barely flickering. 'What could have provoked such a dream' he contemplated. Behind the lantern a large shadow had grown, showing off the intricate designs in the old window. Peering at the source light, the copper top examined closer to see a full moon. Its radiance reflect an air similar Allen's divine grey eyes, bringing a slight warm feeling to the boys chest, as a grin also surfaced onto his face. Once again in a peaceful state, Lavi regained his usual sleeping position. Before his eye lids grew too heavy, he was interrupted by a small groan, followed but footsteps going away from his room. Immediately the flame burnt out. 'Must have been Bookman, probably needs to go and wash his hair again' he sighed, and nuzzled his pillow till he was once again comfortable. This time he was reunited in his sleep with a peaceful memory of his first meeting with Allen and Krory.

A/N: yeah, it hasn't really got anywhere, sorry for such a long set up, and only tiny hints of stuff..Next chapter should come soon if someone likes this ^^


	2. Seeking Lavi

Another chapter... hopefully something else will happen in this and actually have some action in it. After this I'll try and make it mainly in the present (Flashbacks take up too much bllahh blahhh time) and apparently still no romance ¬_¬ There will be some... soon. But this is more angsty (Well a lot more...) than the first chapter I'd say. Next chapter might take a bit longer to do ^^;

_Flashback=Italics_

Endearing eyes opened to see the sight of snow drops in their visual range. Tears stained the skin below, where they'd collected mainly against a long scar. Once again this scar followed up a porcelain face, towards a pentacle. Allen Walker's scar. In a child like embrace he held himself whilst slumped against his door, a door covered in deep and faint scratch marks, the door closing his room off to reality.

After a few minutes of blankly staring into the empty abyss of this room, Allen's eyes began to dart around looking for the source of comfort he felt. Crowned clown had carefully adopted the boy's body, protecting it from harsh chills of the eerie room. This was his innocence, an outfit worn by the unfortunate clown that was always protecting others, whilst a saddened tear constantly sat on his cheek. However, in Allen's case this was his scar. Lax feathers, that cushioned his head, trailed off to a beaming white cape which covered the rest of his body. "Ahh, what time is it? And why am I here..." as his voice trailed off he remembered what happened last night.

"_BANG! Ah, ouc...h ahh" winded, the boy struggled to pick his limb body off the stone cold flooring. "It was just... harharr.. a...aha...nigh...nightmare" said the boy as he continued in failing to catch his breath. Cold sweat was launched across the room where he'd fallen, as well as the devastating tears of sadness. Furious hands tore away at his skin to take the remaining tears, casting friction burns under his eyes. _

_While recalling the dream Allen's mind pondered 'Is Master really the person I'll kill? But why... why was Lavi the one to stop me from...' at that point he realised that the nightmare didn't go any further. 'Could he... be my ...saviour?' His mind pondered away to an image of Lavi, giving off his usual protective barrier of a smile then to another from when he lost control with Road._

_The moon light slowly crawled across the faint body; twitches suggesting movement were seen in shadows. The teenager stumbled onto his feet, like a toddler taking their first steps towards growing up. A_ _monotonous tone of grey filled the depressed eyes as they locked onto a door handle. Reached out was an __ailing__ black hand with scale like rings around its digits, the discolouration continued on and hid under the sleeve of Allen's shirt._

"_Click, ickkk...buh!", swiftly the door was opened then closed in an attempt to lessen the action's sound level. The tremble of footsteps softly increased, as too did the speed in which they were felt. It must have been very late, since the masses of creeping corridors were silent and Allen's quickened footsteps were the only moving parts in them. _

_The footsteps stopped abruptly outside a door, holding a sign saying 'The amazing Lavi's and old Panda's Haven '. A secret chuckle broke his mouth and distracted him momentarily from his thoughts. _

_Emotionlessly, his solitary figure stood to face the door, 'should I go in, what if he's not awake... he'll get cranky and ehh... Why am I even here in the first place' his eyes looked elsewhere till he reminded himself, "I'm sure that dream meant something, like a hidden message. Lavi's been through so many wars, maybe he can teach me to understand this pain...". Taking in the dense air the boy knocked on the door, lightly once then louder again. Instantly he heard the sound of bed springs launching and a mass dropping heavily back on them._

_After a few awkward minute of standing poised while Allen could hear small shuffles, he gave a blissful sigh and plodded back to his room. 'It's hardly like he could have comforted me anyway, should have just stayed where I was.' _

_Yet again he hastily swung his door open and closed it careful not to wake any others. Upon entering the teen's rear descended onto the harsh floor adjacent to the door. Tears dribbled over his snow flake eye lashes, stinging his skin as they passed over where Allen had previous rubbed raw. He shut his eyes in the hope that he'd forget these __abominable__ feelings of loneliness. _

_Eventually, with eyes unsealed, he stared at a dinner plate under his bed. Contained on it were some bone that had been savagely stripped of their meat, a spoon, fork and a steak knife sharp enough to cut through any animal's skin. Suddenly his eyes illuminated on this knife. He stretched out to knock it using his small boot and then clamped it to the floor in order to drag it towards his body. Hesitantly Allen touched the handle, feeling relief in his once stressed fingers. He proceeded to grip it properly and brought it ever closer to his trembling body. _

_At the speed of sound Allen forced the knife down his arm, "Ch-hing!" "What? Where's the pain?" he roared, as quiet as possible. Then he notices it. Feathers caressed his face as crowned clown was shielding the targeted arm. Staring blankly at the Innocence he wondered how it activated without him making it. Twitching rapidly the knife was dropped with a breif bang onto the floor, he gazed at his edge claw. Allen energetically made the claw slashed all directions of his arm, yet crowned clown still was stopping him from making contact. Occasionally as the hits would ricocheted off and they hit the door making more marks. Teeth locked, muffled screams and tears flew in every direction. The scene now looked like one of a partner's tragedy after finding out their loved one had left the world. "Fine!" he whispered viciously. He trapped some of his cheek between his teeth and chopped down as hard as he could. Tasting the sweet yet distorted taste of blood, he spat out the part of broken flesh. Finally, he felt more emotional stable, along with a small grin that balance on his face 'not so powerful now, aye, crowned clown'._

_With an air of peace, Allen closed his eyes and fell asleep._

The sound of rushed footsteps outside broke him from his reminiscing. As he staggered to his feet the innocence surrounding him deactivated. Searching for something else to spy on, he found the mirror. Beneath his eyes was still heavily sore looking, however they didn't sting now. Crimson blood had dried vertically down his chin, and filtered down his neck over his petite adam's apple, finally met at a large ruby strain on the shirt's collar. Thankfully, there hadn't been any blood spilt onto his trademark red ribbon. Leaving the only problems of his shirt and rough cheeks, 'I have spares shirts, and I'm sure I could just hide my cheeks somehow' he thought as his started washing the blood off.

Finally, the room and his appearance were as spotless as a hospital. A tenderly smile grew on his face whilst he practised his gentlemen ways, the ones that got him through any situation. Two knocks beckoned his attention, "Hey Allen, are you coming for breakfast?" a friendly voice almost shouted. Allen nodded to himself in the mirror.

"Sure, I'm coming now" in a cheery tone, as if nothing ever happened.


	3. Quiet Order

Cob – A word usually said in the Midlands, England. It mean like a bread roll... I've always been interested in Allen's Britishness, even if Hoshino never really mentions it. (And it'd be funny to find out that he's meant to be from my city or something XD) This chapter is a lot more upbeat than the last two.

Again, I do not own -man... if I did Allen Walker would have an infatuation with tea as great as Ciel Phantomhive :p anyway, less talky more story...

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"What the hell?" yelled a rough sounding Japanese man just outside Lavi's room. "What do you mean there aren't any soba noodles till 8:30! That's 20 minutes away". His footsteps crashed and vibrated the halls as they continued. Due to all this commotion Lavi had awaken and started to aimlessly plod around the room. He peered at the top bunk of his bed, to find no sight of Bookman. With a look of curiosity, he decided to ask someone on his way to breakfast.

Just out of the room he caught the eye contact of the tantrum-performing man outside. "Yu! Do you know where Old Panda is?" yelled Lavi cheerfully; Yu's dark blue eyes penetrated Lavi's like daggers. "Ekk!"

"Che, I heard he was at a meeting in central to discuss General Cross.", after taking a frustrated breath he continued "And it's Kanda! Don't call me by that name", Kanda then thrashed further down the hallway. Lavi just flashed a smile, and then re-emerged into his cosy room.

'I'm positive he didn't leave me a no...te' sitting proudly on an antique set of drawers was a sealed envelope. The paper it was made from looked foreign; it had a strange mesh that was clearly not created recently. A wax seal kept it close. The seal was very familiar to Lavi, he recognised it as the Bookman's clan seal, even if he hadn't seen it for years. 'Has to be from the Panda" reassuring himself.

The letter read:

"_Dear Junior, _

_I'll be in a conference that only I, the full Bookman can attend, meaning not you. It's located at central with all the superiors so it may end up taking a week to finish all the discussions. Whilst I'm away clean that room up, I want all the books to be organised by the time I'm back. Or else I'll make you write up 50 more prospective from the Indian war._

_**Bookman**_"

Below Lavi's feet swamped a sea of books. In his mind, they were organised, they weren't dirty and they certainly were not damaged. A sigh stole the copper top's previous expression, 'This will literally take days.' Before the burden lay too heavily on his shoulders, he twisted around, discarded the letter and back out his door. Probing his head out into the corridor, he discovered Kanda was not to be seen. 'Think I'll ask Allen if he wants to come for breakfast' and with that he merrily skipped down the hallways acting like his usual friendly self.

Now in prime position to engage in confronting Allen's door, Lavi knocked efficiently twice. "Hey Allen, are you coming to breakfast?" he asked excitingly.

"Sure, I'm coming now" replied Allen peacefully. He unfastened the door and exited it in a gentleman-like manner; Lavi now looked down towards the lad giving off a sweet smile. At the average stature of 5'10 he stood 4 inches taller than his smaller counterpart. This was to be expected due to the 2 year age gap between them.

Diamond hair draped over Allen's pale face, in an attempt to cover up the marks upon his cheeks. However due to Lavi's curiosity and general perceptive skills, it didn't edge away his attention. 'Is he... blushing?' analyzed Lavi, almost seeming scared by the fact. Attempting to take his eyes off the "blushing" before the younger one notice, he turned 180 degrees and howled "Come on Allen, fooodieee time!"

As they strolled towards the cafeteria all Allen could think about was his dream. 'Should I ask him now... I mean he is right in front of me'. He inspected Lavi properly for the first time today; peering upwards he could see his fierce hair flowing in a star shape. It was strange, he thought, where was his usual bandana? It wasn't around his neck either. Allen continued to search around his body, still unable to find an explanation.

"Hey Allen, are you day dreaming? I've been talking for like 5 minutes and you haven't said a thing" at that same moment, he ungracefully crashed into Lavi, causing a large commotion. "I guess that was a no then. Could you at least get off me" asked Lavi, whilst sucking in the air with discomfort.

"Oh, my apologies!" exclaimed Allen. Noticing where his normal hand had landed. Below his grip was a familiar black bandana, its coal studs were cold under his finger tips. It was located around the older boy's lean wrist. 'Don't think he's ever had it there before' he contemplated, whilst staring at it. Lavi picked up on what Allen was looking at.

"Ummm, I'm trying a new style, it's so much better to have my neck all free to feel the breeze!" giddily he spoke. Allen then gazed up to him, with his pink blossom cheeks, in an endearing manner. Heat swept over his cheek bones as he looked this boy in the eyes, remembering the image of the moon he saw the previous night. Quickly, while whipping his hair sideways, he concluded 'Am I blushing now?'. Out of the other boy's eye sight, he then repeated himself again "Could you please get off me then, we're blocking the entrance." Kanda unemotionally eyeballed the heap of boys, before returning to his freshly cooked Soba noodles. Members of the science department piled up behind, and whispered words of complaint.

"Oh yes, of course, I truly am sorry Lavi" answered Allen as he reclaimed a standing position. As to did the redhead.

"No need to be so stiff, you know" he took a gander at his wrist, and slightly rubbed it at the same time. "Time to go see Jeryy then? I think this morning I shall have a bacon 'cob' as you say it". The shorter teen chuckled at his attempt.

"I'll just order my usual everything, perhaps a few less Mitarashi Dangos today, 17 instead of my normal 20" he said optimistically.

The boys sat down at their usual table, while Kanda had disappeared into the vast space known as the Black Order European Branch. Both inspected the halls searching for familiar faces, however Allen was just trying to focus on something or somebody else, rather than Lavi. 'I really don't think it's an appropriate time to ask..hmm..' 'What if...?' 'He'll just think I'm weak' Unknown to Allen, Lavi was now gawking at him. 'I just can't work it out' "How does he keep smiling?" His thoughts finally overflowed his mind, causing it to slowly dribble out of his mouth.

"Pardon me?" the taller teen questioned before taking another bite out of his bacon roll. He knew what he heard; he just didn't want to answer it. Allen scanned his face, trying to work out what had just developed.

"Oh, I said... How does Jeryy make these so good!" the smile plastered across his face beckoned a look of cheating, and then he shovelled more food into his gasping gorge of a stomach. They awkwardly ate their food in silence, which was broken when Lavi had finally finished.

"Sooooo..." He interrupted Allen in a meditative state. "Seems the old Panda has left me alone for a week. It's kind of annoying because he told me to clean up all the books and papers in our room. And the Innocence reports haven't really been coming in much so I can't use that as an excuse." He exhaled quickly.

The snow fluff hair turned as it faced Lavi fully, "Did you know that Lenalee is stuck helping Komui in central as well. I have no idea what they're doing there, but it seems to be taking all the important people away." His hand itched his scar a little. 'They're talking about Master's disappearance, I can tell.' He was correct.

After picking up his plate it was brought to a wooden hatch with an animated character behind it. "Oh you ate it all up as always!" spoke the man flamboyantly. Jeryy, the European orders chef, was a large gentleman. He's the man that taught Lenalee, one of a couple of female exorcists, all of her lady-like manner. Light violet hair was braided, reaching down to his lower back. Whenever he laid eyes on Allen he'd twinkle like a singer performing their best concert. The main thing he loved about Allen was his ability to eat anything and everything that he made.

Lavi had followed the teenager to Jeryy as well. He returned the clean plate and thanked the gentleman for a lovely meal. In the corner of his eye, Allen was stood looking neat and proper waiting for him. "Back to our rooms I guess then" He said with a hand hung behind his head, irritatingly scratching it.

Allen turned and grinned "I guess... Wish I knew where Tim had gone...I'm sorta alon.." even before he could finish a husky arm had locked round his neck.

"Help me out then, silly" The older of the two had now manoeuvred himself around so his nose almost touched Allen's forehead. Heated breath escaped his smiling mouth, wandering down onto the bridge of Allen's nose. His face slightly alighted, as it usually did when someone got this close to him.

"If that's fine with you, then sure" a small laugh dropped from his mouth.

A/N: this chapter was meant to be must longer, but I decided to split it into two to try and make the chapter lengths more even :p


	4. Secret Library

Mhh... I can't really tell if I'm doing something bad or not since I've only had one review ^^; But since I'm procrastinating from my art project I might as well write some more stuff. Also, I'm changing it from angst to hurt/comfort because I think I'll fit better. This is a kinda boring chapter that's just filling in some missing information and places for the future. There's a chapter I really really wanna write... but I think there's at least another 1 more after this before I can D:

I do not own -man or these charactersssss

_Italic= Thinking_

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Lavi had navigated Allen to his room, in the knowledge he'd had never seen it/been in it; however the British boy kept a cheeky smile on his face knowing that wasn't the case. His broad hand connected to the door and trickled downwards towards its handle. Sliding into the small gap he made at the entrance, Lavi swung the door out fully and greeted Allen with "Welcome to my paradise!". Behind his large figure stood a sea of books. They seemed to look like mountains, with passages within them leading off to important areas. Such places were a mahogany set of drawers, a stout bunk bed and a brilliant stain glass window.

Allen thought to himself _'Baring in mind we moved here, at most, a month ago... This place is a pig sty.'_ This was interrupted when the taller teen poked him to get his attention.

"Amazed, aye?" his emotion seemed to be very genuine. Allen's lost gaze told him the opposite. With a sigh his body moved from door frame and followed the designated paths, turning once again to face the other teen. "Sure that you still want to help me, Al?" He could see those grey eyes darting around, lost in thought.

Allen's mouth opened, he convinced himself _'Doubt I can say "anything so I could talk to you" '_, but only loose air escaped. After doing so, the boy tried to continue, "Well I suppose, I have nothing else to do. " a weak smile blessed his lips as he glided towards Lavi. "So... where shall we begin?" he asked more confidentially. Looking around the room he really did have no clue where to start.

All 4 walls were covered by antique wooden panels that reached midway up the height, apart from one particular space. Spanning around 1.5 meters wide by 2.5metres tall was a costumed wall, covered in scarlet velvet. It looked very similar to Lavi's hair. The room had 2 windows in it, one bringing in an immense amount of light, but the other was jaded by a tree that grew on the other side. In the unlit hole stood a candle that was at the end of its life. A frown then grew when thinking of how it needed replace.

A long, sculptured forearm pointed towards the strange part of wall. "Well first we need to clear a space to there" Lavi spoke in an interrupting tone. In return he felt a confused look from his friend.

After taking his boots off and starting to carefully climb over the book, he pushed the wall. Revealed behind it was a musty, dark room. Where the light had reached showed countless sheaves and labels. "I was told to put all those books into here, although I'm positive that it'll all be moved around again within a month of Panda's return" he breathed out while still oddly positioned on top of the books.

"Allen, are you still here?" he asked while looking at the boy. His eyes hadn't moved since Lavi opened the secret door. And his mouth had slightly dropped in shock. Jumping lightly off the books, so he didn't ruin them, Lavi landed a meter in front of Allen. This made a noise loud enough to wake him for his astounded state.

"Yes, yes... of course" Allen stammered. The taller boy merely nodded in response.

After an hour they had successfully cleared a path through to the secret library, now Lavi was just inside putting the books that Allen had carried through into date and alphabetical order. This system worked well as only the Bookman-in-training knew which order they had to be in, not to mention that really he should be the only person doing anything within their room. But he also knew that he could trust his friend, so letting him carry the books was fine. They talked about funny events that happened before Allen joined the order, and just laughed along.

"Hey Al, where's your shadow?" inquired Lavi. Books dropped as Allen fixated on the coppertop confusingly. "You know, Link! He's always with you" this reassured the boy that it wasn't about the 14th's shadow he saw in the mirror.

"Oh! I think he's also at central, being the usual tool with Lvellie, discussing **him**." Silence fell upon them both until Allen joked "Or perhaps their just doing a master chef class" making them laughed as they continued to work.

A further hour past, making it 11:17am. Being so engulfed in the books, the teen hadn't noticed that not a word had been spoken for at least half an hour and now the pile of books Allen brought in were completely gone. Lavi slowly stumbled to his feet '_Ouch, must have been sat down for too long'_ he thought as his feet hobbled towards the main room. A couple of metres ahead of him he could see a dark mass hunched on some book. Edging closer towards it, he discovered it was Allen's motionless body. The closer his footsteps came, the lower his eyes gazed at the boy below.

His soft hair condescended around his cheek slowly moving as his shoulder nudged it up then down. Snowflake eye lashes peacefully lay cuddled together. His blissful smile connected the two porcelain cheeks, which were a light ting of pink. The calm breathing and low volume snores planted the idea that he was still not an adult in Lavi's mind clearer. He ogled at the British's boys features and leisurely reached down his hand to stroke Al's hair, but then stopped before connecting. '_It's hard to imagine I've only know him a few months. And he's pretty much broken all the boundaries I've made as a Bookman in training. My first true friend..._', he knelt down next to Allen. _'Should I wake him or not? I mean he looks all peaceful and stuff...'_ after deciding, he gently picked the smaller boy up in a bridal style. Stepping cautiously around the remaining piles of book, Lavi had eventually reached his bed. He placed his friend down to continue sleeping and then returned back to arranging the books.

Some tummy rumbling was heard, coming from both males in the room, as the redhead noted it was around lunchtime. His bed was still occupied by a sleeping beauty, unaware that he had mistakenly fallen asleep in someone else's room.

Lavi got up from his position, pondered his next move and then began to head for the door. As he approached it his eyes wondered to the resting boy '_Better get him his lunch too, if I can carry it' _his mind trailed off to thoughts of bringing it back in a wheelbarrow. Softly the handled turns and the door was moved with a lot of care, however it still managed to make a loud squeak. Breathing out, he turned in the corridor and continued to the food court.

Grey eyes slowly emerged from the snowflakes as the squeaking door woke Allen up. _'huh, what? Why am I in a bed?'_ were his first thoughts. Rolling over, then falling off he looked around seeing the enormous piles of book. _'Oh yeah, I was helping Lavi out, must have fallen asleep.' _He continued searching around, and decided to pick some of the books not in a pile. Below the bunk bed were a few that looked as if they'd been kicked under accidentally. As the boy slid himself under to get them, he could see paper hanging from under the bed supports. Grabbing that, then the two books near his head he re-emerged.

Eyeing at the drawing on the paper, he pondered with wide eyes. _'Who's this then?'_


	5. Hidden Image

Thanks for the reviews ^_^ they made me smile and actually make me want to steam through yet another boringish chapter. I just made this girl up on the spot... she doesn't need a name...but the topic of her will come up again soooo don't dismiss it yet . I dislike this piece but I just needed it so I could have the next chapter lined up right ^^

So I think I'll be updating every Wednesday and Saturday, maybe? Not too sure really. (Totally uploaded this like 2 hours after Wednesday finished.. oh well XD)

_Flashback=italics!_

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Petite perked ears surveyed the outside noise to make sure no one would come in. Now in the small hands of Allen Walker posed a cute drawing that had been coloured in. On this picture stood two silhouettes, one with fiery hair covering one side of the person's face and the other, a girl with long hair. 'Well that's clearly Lavi' he concluded as he examined this figure. But while looking at the person next to him, he had no clue.

The larger character in the picture was stood leaning towards the girl to his right. His red hair stroked over his brow and completely covered his normally eye-patched eye. Unable to see it, Allen deduced that Lavi was wearing neither his headband or eye patch. Following down from here, the boy could see a gigantic smile placed on a happy face, but it was extremely genuine compared to the first smile he'd received from Lavi. A lime green shirt dreamily drooped over sharp collar bones, leading three quarters of the way down the lanky arms. He only stood a couple of inches taller than his adjacent partner, meaning that it could have been drawn over 3 years ago. The observing boy noted that the teen had perfectly positioned his left hand around the waist of the young lady next to him.

This woman's light hair shocked Allen. It was a strong colour of silvery white, the same as his. Styled in a way that covered half her cute and slightly rounded face, while the rest loosely fell at the sides. The silver talons continued past her breasts and even as the picture ended, it appeared her hair did not. The most noticeable part of her upper body was the grin on her face. It wasn't big, or wide. It was small and curled at the sides. On either side, just above that grin, radiated two circles of pink, making the collection of features look very so endearing. 'Wow, she's adorable' he thought, while gazing at her with inspecting eyes. Her head look slightly tilted, as if it were looking at the boy holding onto her. 'But... doesn't she kind of look like me.' He sat pondering over the picture for a while, until his eyes and ears pick up like a dog hearing a meow.

"Lunch time Allen!" yelped Lavi as he kicked his door open. However, just before he did that Allen managed to tackle himself back onto the bed, while he tucked the picture into his trouser pocket. As the older teen walked in, holding two trays full of food, he glances at the boy seeing he was no longer "blushing". This was thanks to Allen's quick healing he'd developed from fighting Tyki Mikk. 'Kinda thought it was cuter with the colour... what am I thinking' shaking his head, Lavi once again repeated himself "Lunch time! These trays are freakin' heavy". The white haired boy bounced upwards, checking to make sure the picture was secure, and then graced his eyes towards Lavi.

Reaching up he spoke "Alright, thank you very much for carrying me here and bringing food. Would it be okay to eat it here since..." the mountains of books still stood proudly around him.

"Oh.. oh right! Of course you can. Well I've already eaten so I'll just get back to organising" his cheeky smile appears as he grazed over towards the boy. "Drop it and you're dead! Those are clean sheets, you know". Allen motioned his head while Lavi placed the trays in his hands.

"Thank you again, Lavi" He added, before gluttonously tucking into his food. The coppertop's head merely flipped a tad to the side and gleamed his toothy smile, until it fell when he thought about what Johnny had said to him in the food court a mere 30 minutes ago.

_As the teasing teen sat munching on a plate of grilled meat, a young scientist approached him. With hair scraped back into curly locks, big glasses and large headphones behind his nape, the man sat next to Lavi. "Good afternoon, Johnny" he said looking at the newly positioned fellow. He could sense an uneasy aura around his neighbour._

"_Erm.. Lavi? Where's Allen, I'm sure I saw him with you earlier" pondered Johnny, looking everywhere but Lavi's expression. "I was just wondering... if he was okay" Fiddling with his fingers, his eyes jilted to the side. "It's just... I saw him walking down the hallway last night.. or more so wondering like a ghost. Nothing like his usual self. I got slightly worried..."._

"_Oh, well... he seemed fine to me. Right now he's asleep, tidying up my messy room must have really taken it out of him" He spoke with a hand scratching his head. 'I could tell something was wrong... wait...! He came to my room last night, it wasn't Bookman at all.. I better go see if he's alright'. He could now see Johnny's spectacles glimmering as they shone up towards him. _

"_Just look after him okay" and with that the young scientist left. _

_Lavi absorbed his lunch quicker and collected Allen's. He then rushed towards his room with a slight urgency. _

Allen's face was laced with crumbs as he gazed up towards the taller boy. "Is there something wrong?" he said, after swallowing his mouthful of food. Feasting into an emerald eye he could only see a dull reflection.

It regained some life as Lavi finally decided to try and answer the white haired teen's question "Hey Allen, did you want to ask me something last night? Or... was it the same as you asked earlier?"

"No, not at al..." A deathly glare pierced his head "Okay, yes... and yes" he reacted truthfully and a bit saddened.

The older boy sighed. "Cheee... I don't really know. I suppose... the people that I get along with.. They give me a reason to stay cheery through whatever" a wide grin grew on his face as he knelt down slightly to pat Allen's silky hair. "Is that the answer you were looking for?" he pondered.

Reaching where the drawing has been place, the smaller boy lightly tapped it. "Yeah, that's a perfect answer" he responded as their eyes met briefly before both turned their heads. "Let's continue this job then?"

"Yes yes!", Lavi jumped around and went back to his other position. Both continued and had fun sorting things out for the next 4 hours.

Allen swept away sweat seeping down his supple face. "Think I'm done for now, kind of hungry as well. It's okay if I leave for today then?"

Without even looking Lavi simple replied with "K. Chou for now". He was clearly too engrossed in books to notice the other lad had already disappeared out the room.

Several more hours pass as Lavi unwaveringly categorized all the books that sat beside him. Now on the last book he looked past the secret door to see the moon hanging in the sky. Air escaped his enormous mouth as he yawned. Surveying the room with his one keen eye, he concluded that at least half the books were now sorted. 'Guess it wasn't as bad as I first thought' reassuring himself with a smile.

Fire-red hair danced as he sprinted over the remaining piles of books in order to reach his bed once again. Discarding his clothing briskly, he redressed himself with some loose fitting trousers that he kept under his pillow. Sliding smoothly under his covers he agreed he should probably just go to sleep instead of getting a late night snack. He shut his eye lids and prepared for the land of nod, but was quickly disturbed by a recurring image.

Soft pink lips slightly parted to let air escape accompanied tender-looking, pale skin which snugly fit round a cute jaw line. Colourless strands pillowed blossoming cheeks which lay under booming closed eyes. 'Damn my photographic memory' thought Lavi, as the image of Allen sleeping irritated his mind. 'Why did he have to look so innocent and happy... even after Johnny said he wasn't as bright as usual?' Flashes of Allen's beautiful smile appeared too. 'This is the second night in a row...Wonder if it's a secret message?'

Yet more time passed, and still Lavi had no luck in sleeping. Admitting defeat he went back to his book sorting, in the hope he'd lose himself and just wonder off to sleep.


	6. Allen's Appreciation

Soooo I've just been wanting to write this chapter since like the 2nd one I did... But then I got all mehh. So I've made it into two parts to stop it from being too long and stufffff! But alas, I must procrastinate more from my art coursework! ^_^ Maybe I'll get round to doing some pictures for this story. (I hoppppe). I promise the next will be awesomely... cute? Maybbeee.

Also...! I don't understand why we've never seen Lavi topless, I mean we've seen his back, about 5 cms above his trouser level and even in one of the omakes you can only see down to about nipple height. Soo.. he could have anything there (God save me, I sound super obsessed) :p Writing most of this was making me fangirl out too much _ Oh oh oh oh "apollo's belt" = The iliac furrow (them lovely lines you can get leading from your hip bone to your pubis)

_Thoughts=italics_ :p yeah I should stop changing what the italics is for each week.

* * *

A glacial gust teased branches of crimson hair, causing its owner to awaken. Slumped, in a very awkward position, laid the teenager named Lavi. His right palm stiffly supported his weary head, whilst the left gripped his scalp to balance it out. The boy's bare back hunched like an old man over a blanket made from books. With his legs still crossed tightly he signed. 'How the hell did I manage to sleep like this', questioning himself he began to get untangled. Crack, he moved his left hand down. Crack, there goes his neck. Crack, both hands were now planted firmly on the ground. "Crr-crr-cccrrrrrr!" a sound loud enough for the whole order to hear emanated from his solidified spine.

"Ouch!" yelp Lavi as he vanquished his previous posture and attained a standing one. Peeking around while he treed through the entrance to his bedroom, he could spy a noticeable difference in the level of books still unarranged. The copper top concluded that he'd gone into 'Bookman state' the previous night. In this he becomes so entwined with the task at hand, that all else matters not. He deduced that only about a quarter of the books were left to tidy away still, which led him to ponder how long he'd been working. This answer came quite rapidly, not to his mind, but his rather sensitive nose. _' AHHH! What is that smell! It smells like rotten corpses'_ Sniffing harder his watery eyes wondered down towards his arm pit. Hesitantly, he lifted the arm and took a short inhale. Immediately the scent made him slightly vomit in his own mouth. '_That's right... working for two days pretty much straight... I should probably have a wash_.'

Luckily for Lavi, the bathrooms border his accommodation, allowing him to make a quick dash from his position to the cleanliness. As he faced the mirrors, his emerald pearl of an eye caught glimpse of the droopy bags afflicting his near perfect face. Air surrounding his torso was humid, which damped the smell down. The warm steam hugged his body and ease his once aching joint. Taking off his eye-patch first, he checked to make sure no one else was about to enter. He then proceeded to untie his nightwear, trailing it and the beneath undergarments down in order to take them off. Grazing steadily towards the showers, he began extending his arm to pull back the curtain. Upon the sheaves stood his usual cleaning product, shampoo and body wash both strawberry flavoured. After securing himself within the shower capsule, the teen doused himself in products, in the hope that the eye bags and terrible smell would disappear.

15 minutes had past and Lavi was positive he now smelt perfectly fine. As he hoped out the shower a thought hit him like a carriage_, 'I forgot to bring my clothes in... Damn!'_. Grabbing his eye-patch and then placing it in its normal position, his other eye twitches as it searched for a towel. One was placed neatly folded next to the opposing sinks; thieving hands snatched it and hung it tightly around his lower torso. He then skittered towards the bathroom door, prying it open by a fingers width, checking for any passes by. After Reever and Cash, two science division members stumped past Lavi thought it were fit to escape back to his room. With the stealth of a ninja and the silence of a dagger he raced back into safety. _'Chheeeee... my minds a bit out at the moment.' _he pondered rapidly.

Once inside properly, he went over to find the mahogany drawers. After attempting to dry himself down, which was rather difficult due to how stiff his hands had become, he moved onto getting dressed. Teasing the top three rows out one by one, he gradually began building an outfit. First were underwear and socks, followed by his typical white trousers. However, once they were landed around his taut buttocks, the teen reached a problem. Sore hands weren't too good at doing buttons up, so Lavi spend his time grunting and cussing the damned fastening mechanism. Whilst doing so, two small knocks hooked his attention.

"Hey Lavi, can I come help you again?" mumbled a teenage boy's voice through the door.

"Urghh, yeah, sure! Come on in buddy!" spoke the coppertop mildly.

Allen then navigated himself through the door and to the other side. Instantaneously he was met with the view of Lavi's divested back, accompanied by two burly upper arms jolting around with something near his lower torso. Wide eyed the boy stood unresponsively starting at the actions made by the other teen. '_Is he... no he can't be..._' staring intently at the boy he just happened to examine in greater detail.

His broad shoulder blades protruded over a defined ribcage which sat under . Equidistant from these useless parts of anatomy slept the teen's spine. As Allen's eyes trailed along this line a flushed feeling filled his face, gradually gaining temperate as his eyes continued. Then they stopped. He now met with Lavi's familiar white trousers, but not for long, as his vague eyes once again wondered up, then to the side. Sitting pretty mirrored just beside the redhead's spine, were two perfectly identical back dimples. They were supported upwards by yet more toned flesh, leading Allen's grey peepers to spy at the older teen's ribcage. Even with this much muscle covering his back, the individual ribs crept through and around his skin. At his side, the fair haired boy could see scars crawling around to under the darkened arm pits. But in fact, most of this teen's back was covered in scars; however the ones on the side were clean and looked evenly cut. An image that stained Allen's mind, '_Oh.._.' he quietly thought, while accepting the possible truth, '_Maybe we're the same..._'. Then another idea crashed into his mind, just what was Lavi doing?

"Lavi! Are you...!"Allen shouted in a disgusted tone.

"WHAT?" replied the older male, in an even more disgusted voice. "Are you, Allen Walker, insinuating that I would let you watch me do something so... so... ugh, you little pervert!" A chuckle elapsed out the corner of his mouth as he twisted his entire body to face the younger boy. He was surprised to see the boy staring intently at the ground with blushing rosy cheeks. "Is something wrong?" he spoke, still trying to get his button done up. His green eye felt the harsh daze of Allen's.

"Could you at least put your top on first, please?" He spoke trying desperately not to look towards Lavi.

"Whatever, not like you haven't seen it before" The coppertop continued in attempting to secure his trousers properly, not keeping eye contact with Allen.

Gawking at Lavi's now bare front, his eyes picked up on the older boy's hands, still stumbling around. Up from there were two heavily dominant ridges leading diagonally towards pointed hips, finally resting along the bone. Two more constructed lines sat parallel to his Apollo's belt, both vaguely streamed off two times, forming a mildly sculptured six-pack. They also lead up to striking rib bones that pierced the red head's slightly tanned skin. Resting even further up were prominent pecks that were slightly being flexed as the teen continued to struggle. Just above stood the same sharp collar bones he'd examined in the drawing. The boy proceeded to look down depressively towards his body, _'Well actually no I haven't seen it before. My body isn't amazing like his... Wait, what am I thinking?' _His thoughts infused his cheeks with yet more colour.

"Ahh! Done it!" Lavi struck a winning pose as he finally conquered the devilish button. Swiftly, he whipped his everyday shirt on, whilst closing all 3 draws with his butt. "Alright Allen, I'm done. Time to continue!"

The boy was abruptly out of his daze, attempting to quickly kill the entire colour poisoning his face. "Yes yes, on we go!"

A/N: This whole chapter sounds extremely sarcastic xD


	7. Learning Steps

Went through some part chapters and fixed them up a bit cause occasionally I'd just stop at a sentence and think "What the hell was I trying to write?" I blame doing it at 2am! xD Was totally split today between finishing this off and doing a picky of Lavi from the last chapter :p And I first decided on this... but got half way through and did a picky instead (Well twice cause I ruined the first) Link is on my profile thing ^^! So I hope that makes up for this being a day late D:

The dancing thing was kindaaaaa based off that first scene between Squall and Rinoa in FF8 (I played it like a week ago and was totally like AWWWWWWWW)

_Singinggg=Italics_

* * *

"Hey Allen, so... since I answered your question. How 'bouts you answer it for yourself?" the coppertops voice came out laced with inquisition. Glancing up to through the camouflaged door, Lavi could make out that the British boy he was addressing, now sat frozen solid. Surrounding his body lay oak wooden flooring, which hadn't seen the light of day for a month. Lavi's emerald pearl followed around this body, observing the now empty room. His gaze returned to the boy again, who was shockingly shivering. Curious footsteps lead him to Allen's position, kneeling as he descended to the ground, he caught glimpse of salt water dropping from swan-like feather eye lashes. "You know, about what makes you happy." Now closer to the boy, he could be sure his voice would be witnessed.

Sniffling, the colourless haired teen counterclaimed "I don't know anymore. I though...gh...ght Mana kept me going but... ". A punch in the shape of a head relapsed into his human and anti-demonic hands. Continuing to quake on the same spot and now erratically breathing, he attempt to extend his answer, " I don't even think he loved me!" the words just spluttered out. Something about the last sentence he spoke triggered Lavi's mind, causing him to suddenly release all the air he held and quickly thrush it back in. Ringed fingers edged towards the white haired boys eyes, dancing as they swept away the tears; they then tickled his cheek while chasing towards his hair.

Harassing the wisps of pure cotton strands, the old boy finally spoke. "Allen, I'm sure he did. He sounds to me like a perfect father" The other lifted his head upwards, causing a hand to drop upon his shoulder. Lavi now had a perfect vision of the British boy's face; he'd never been so close before. Peering into the opposing eyes, he spotted detailed much greater than before. His eyes weren't as shiny. They appeared to be beckoning death with every tear that leeched out. Lips, soft as blossoms, yet broken like an old wall, crumbled faintly. Occasional, the sniffling motioned Allen's face causing his nostrils to flare, and scar to slightly jolt. The older boy continued to stare blankly. 'What can I do to cheer him up? I've never seen him this bad... Oh damn it, where did he used to go, except the dining hall, to calm down...' Taking his free hand, which hung to the right, he grasped his pointed chin in a thinking pose. 'Damn it! I know there was place which had something in that he used to...' An idea scrambled into his brain, 'Ahh! But how does it go again'.

Lavi's unstable voice began to hum, attempting to tune the notes correctly. The reaction from the other teen eliminated his suspicions of doing it wrong. 'I've only heard this twice on the ark... but I'm positive this will either make him a lot better... or a lot worse. I hope for the first option'. Allen's eyes now looked fixated straight through the redhead's close body, in a trance like abyss. Both hands of his rested on his lap, the digits began to play a song. "_Tsunaida te ni kiss wo_" Voiced the boy, his hands continuing to mimic the piano keys. The owner's soft, cracked lips began opening wider, releasing a gentle lullaby.

"_And then the little boy falls asleep_

_Amongst the ashes in the flames shining._

_First one, then two..._

_Surfaces numerous of your faces._

_A thousand dreams,_

_Trickle back to earth" _

Their mentalities materialized as they were literally brought back to the planet. Granite eyes once again shone towards the single apple-like one. No more tears flooded the boy's face. Both just embraced the peacefulness as a unity, still bonded by a hand on the shoulder. The silence was broken by Lavi's words "Say Allen, maybe you could keep humming that, I know a way to get you smiling again." The positioned palm now tickled down the younger boy's arm, slowing caressing his normal fingers while gripping onto the hand. Raising Allen's mass, the redhead then stole him from his previous pose, into a standing one. He looked peculiarly at the other, wondering what on earth he was doing. A larger hand then grabbed onto his darkened, black one pulling it up towards a vast shoulder. Without warning, the petite wrist retracted, causing the contrasted teen to flinch. "Oh come on, I'm just gonna teach you how to dance, silly!" his words blurted out in defence, whilst a smile evaporated.

'He should know I don't like people touching that arm...' concluded Allen, upon further surveying the situation, he then continued "Well if you think it'll help, then I'm sure I can trust you" Once again the hand returned to where it was intended, while the other was kept locked within Lavi's.

"Okay, are you ready?" patiently he spoke. His eye received a head motion, which invoked him to gracefully place another hand just below the British boy's left shoulder blade. Noticing the head suddenly dropping downwards his voice once again picked up, "I think you're forgetting to hum loud enough. Come on, we need some music". Receiving this, he proceeded to pull Allen within intimacy range. "A very special person taught me this, so it will forever cheer me up. Now try to follow my footsteps" .

Paying great detail to his movements, Allen entered a trace-like state between the melody of humming and the weaving of bodies. So far he was doing well, occasionally staring upwards to see Lavi's grinning face peering down. Without the normal headband worn by the redhead, both had very similar hair styles, falling on equal partings, making them look quite twin-like.

"Hey you're doing really well!" let out Lavi, almost breathlessly. Of what had escaped his mouth, it fell on the brow of his friend. Added heat caused the trace he was locked in to diffuse. Elapsing an inevitable fall while they pirouetted around, the music simultaneously seized.

Laying messily one on top of the other, were both teens. With his burning cheek connected to something of a familiar feeling, he could sense a warm impression laden on his back. Fists supported his face and chin above the breast of the beneath redhead. As the surface took in air, its heart tremors slightly lift Allen, they were exponentially accelerating. A grip round his back became stronger. Searching backwards he discovered they were arms belonging to the below teenager. "Ahh Lavi! Am I hurting you?" he asked, looking at the eye patch blanking him. It turned around, making a grassy eye appear. Although dark, both had visible marks blessing their cheeks. Uneasy faces gazed towards each other, inspecting around before equally feeling uneasy in their guts. The embrace held, lingering unnecessarily against the white haired teen's back, but he heed no complains.

"No, I'm just glad you aren't hurt. Damn it, we were doing pretty well until then weren't we?" Lavi's chest had returned to a normal pace. Untangling his arms as he began to push both bodies up, he soon felt a great loss in temperature and comfort. At this point Allen's mind beckoned him to attention, in order to slide himself off Lavi sideways. After doing so he just sat sensibly close to the other teenager.

"Well I think it was excellent, really, you're very good at teaching" a chuckle claimed his features, while he thought 'I do feel better now, maybe I could use this in the future.'

Lavi's face was similarly shot with humour as he replied "Yeah, yeah. It was just easy. You kinda look like the person who first taught me too". Suddenly the expression on his partners face wiped clean.

'Oh... the girl! It must have been the other person present in the picture' thought Allen swiftly. Feeling as if he were speaking out of place, he mumbled "That girl must have been very good to dance with". Lavi's penetrating glanced pierced his mind.

"Oh, who do you mean?" spoken in a cynical tone. The coppertop pried further into the boy's drowsy eyes. Although there was no vocal response, a flicker of his eyes revealed the location. Beneath his bed, where most of his precious things were kept. With forced fists, the larger teens body ascended upwards. Hell broke loose from his eyes as he snared "Get out". After yet more unresponsive seconds, he repeated "Get the fuck out of here, now". The once grassy green eye now turned a violent deep poison colour, leeching at the others soul.

Hastened footsteps carried Allen up and out, but not before tears were left as a saddened departing note.

(A/N: Oh goshh, just had to change like loads of things on this... damn putting it up while slightly intoxicated! xD)


	8. Regretful Mind

Well well... this is another chapter of nothing really happening... yippey. I was possibly thinking of writing another story at the same time, since this one is all depressive and kinda bleh. I wanted to do a school one that loosely follows my life last year (I thought back to all the new people I met and they pretty much lined up perfect with many of the DGM character). Although it'd end up a bit messy with parings xD. BUT ANYWAY. Story time.

Oh before that, thanks for all the reviews and normal views! (Although a few more wouldn't hurt ;D I need to know what I'm doing wrong)

_Italics = thinking_

* * *

The waterfall of dust dwindled below a clenched hand planted firming in the wall. With the force of a hurried stampede, a teen with crimson hair had transferred his fury from fist to brick. Blood equally simmered down as the subdued human part scrapped against the rough surface. The other hand cradled his face, letting its tear soaked eye over flow down the fingers.

Down on the floor Lavi rested himself, knuckles rooted in the ground. Sprinkles of blood painted themselves beneath, which mixed together as tears collided within them. "Why, why, WHY!" yelled the teen, launching his bleeding fist with each question. "Why the hell would I react like that, I don't even know what or who I was back then" he spoke while facing his now open palms. Gripping and relaxing them, he thought '_I always get this way when it comes to Allen... but why. At least I think I'm back to normal now.' _Glancing at the slightly ajar door, he sighed_ 'I can't apologies yet... he'll be too mad at me still.' _Wobbling uneasy, his mass ascended, not quite reaching full stature as it slouched unattractively.

For the first time in two day, the coppertop had landed himself in his own bed to sleep. His arm wandered to the side of his mattress, reaching for a small box. After creaking it open, his uninjured hand juggled through the items. Inside were bandages, scissors and even a medical sewing kit. His finger tips carefully caressed the roll of bandages out, wrapping it tenderly around his wounded hand.

A familiar smell encased around the tired body. Turning over sideways, a small strand lit up upon his pillow. It caught the miniature sun rays swimming through the atmosphere, glowing like a fine thread made of silver. A pointed index finger and thumb clenched the thin piece for further inspection. He then used one of his Bookman skills, a skill passed down through the clan. The great observing skill that allows him to identify anything from its texture, shape or weight. However, it was far easier for him to recognise something from the past, rather than present. He continued touching it while breathing in the well known smell. '_I know what this is... I've felt something likened to it recently'_. Pressing it onto his lips with his index finger, his mind travelled back in an attempt to acquire the senses again. Quickly, his one eye grew expansive. _'Yesterday! Allen was sleeping right here. Ahh dammit, I should have grasped that idea quicker. My memory is getting worse...'_.

Gripping the pillow from below his head, the teenager's slender torso curved upwards. Lustfully, both mouth and nose took in a mountain of air seized within the pillow. In a flash, the lime pupil disappeared as his head locked upwards in a mischievous cackle, whilst the euphoria heighten the temperature of his body. It was a sensual overload. Tears started to dribbled down his face once more. '_What is this? How can a smell give me some pleasure and misery simultaneously?_' he thought, now his head had retired to a normal level. Tightening the hug on the pillow, he bestowed his face snugly towards it, acting out a lover's embrace. '_Allen Walker, why do you taint my mind so vaguely?_' He considered before collapsing sideways, asleep, still encase around his pillow.

The evening breeze simmered under Lavi's shirt, tickling his slightly tanned abs and awakening him for his nap. His forearm reached to the furthest corner of his bed, grabbing his exorcist coat and headband. Due to the weather outdoors, the inner walls were now freezing and even ice appeared to be sleeping with the windows. _'I think it's time I go apologies, he would have cooled off by now I guess'._ Knees bend at the side of the mattress; he prepared himself for searching around the Black Order.

After looking through the corridors and library, the copper top went towards the food court in the hopes that Allen would be in his usual place. As he gleefully jogged past familiar faces, one practically stood out to him. A great smile burst across a young lady's, as she waved goodbye to her previous company and joyfully bounced towards the teenage boy.

"Hey Lavi! Haven't seen you in a while." she spoke excitingly while trying to maintain a nervous giggle. Grasping his injured hand between her two petite ones, she extended her chat "Oh are you hurt? Need me to look at it or take you to the head nurse?" A blank look stared her back in the face. "Ahh never mind about the head nurse then" said, while remembering the level 4 incident.

"It's okay Lenalee, I'm fine, just burnt it trying to make tea like Old Panda" his hand now itched the back of his head in embarrassment. Unsurely, he continued "Oh, welcome back too! I guess I'll be seeing the old man soon eh?" The faces now being made by Lavi were rather grotesque and worrying. '_Oh crap, I haven't finished tidying quite yet'_ he hastily thought, looking for reassurance in the opposing girl.

"Don't worry! They're still in discussions. I just got told to return because I'm not important enough" her fists were planted firmly on her hips, with a small pout disrupting her face. This then relieved once she saw Lavi return to normal.

"Do you know where Allen is?" he spoke very sincerely. An answer in the shape of Lenalee's soft, chin length locks swaying side to side arrived. "Oh, I see. Want to help me search?" Another answer was received from her hair, which was now bouncing up and down.

So the pair toddled off to search around, their first stop was the food court. Inside there were a minimal amount of people. Lavi's eyes darted about the place, looking for more friends, and then looking for a clock, but he was to no avail. "Errrm, what's the time?" he asked while looking upon his friend's dark green hair.

"Oh yeah, it's about 9pm, I only just got in" she beamed her smile once more. He just returned with a sigh, and his single greed coloured eye rolled.

"Anyway, I'm sure you're tired. We'll quit looking for tonight, sure we could find him tomorrow, aye" baring a fake grin, he turned to be reunited with his room and waved the lady off.

On the way back he felt a tugging on his coat. As he turned he was met by scraped back mud coloured hair. "Oh Johnny! Do you need something?" The daunting expression on his face warned him of upcoming knowledge. Holding a shirt in his hand, the man of smaller statue gazed towards Lavi. He began to hold it out. Its collar was strained with dirty, dried blood. Examining the details, the Bookman in training, noticed it was the type Allen would wear. "Where did you find this?" he spoke while pointed at it.

"I..I... I went inside Allen's room so I could fix the door. I heard he'd gone away, and when I went past his room there seemed to be a large crack down it. I opened the door with my master key and it all seemed okay, until I closed it again. Behind it I found this as well as large groove marks engraved into the wood. Do you know anything about it?" explained Johnny, still facing the taller person. He shook his head, feeling his chest tighten.

"Something's wrong with him, I know that. That's why I'm trying to find him. I need to say something to him..." Lavi's words seem to slur out as he thought about this feeling, he was quickly interrupted by the other man.

"He's on a short mission with Kanda and Miranda. They left just before noon this morning". Johnny then handed the shirt to Lavi. "Help him for me, please. He should be back in the next couple of days". And with that he twirled in the opposite direction to navigate himself around the maze of corridors.

Still holding Allen's shirt, Lavi returned to his haven and once again collapsed on his bed. _'Allen, what's going on with you, really?_' he pondered to himself, while cradling the stained material. Feeling unwell, he closed his eyes for yet another nap.

(A/N: I like the idea of Lavi being able to remember the past easier than present... makes some sense I suppose. And sorry it's a day late)


	9. Comforting Embrace

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! I am like 2 weeks late. I blame the errors they destroyed my (little) determination and too many parties! So I'm just gonna jump over a chapter I planned because, to be honest nothing happened in it. And this will be a tad bit longer my other chapters to make up for missing soooo mucchhhhhh D: Anyway onwards we go!

But before that, apologies to Kobraa for yet more angst stuff! (I really hope you don't die D: )

Oh, and ofc this takes it's ideas from episode 88, cause it's beauutttiffullllll and makes my inner fangirl have an orgasm. (Secretly I didn't have chance to write this cause I watch that scene like a million times over) Alsoooo, the scene between Athrun and Cagalli in episode 31 of Gundam Seed was a great inspiration 33.

D . G-Man does not belong to me and nor do these characters.

* * *

Two tormented winter nights past as Lavi contemplated how to apologies to Allen. Not knowing how the boy was doing greatly worried him. Making it worse lay a crumpled shirt, poisoned with a shade of burning flames. A combination of agonising thoughts and lack of nutrition had beckoned the coppertop to stay lazily around his room, doing the odd jobs here and there in between the many naps he'd taken. Occasionally he'd have a gander through the long corridors, checking on Komui's office to see if the others were back yet. As he looked towards the clock, newly situated onto of the drawers, he noted it'd had been 5 hours since he last checked making it 2:16pm. His posed green eye ghostly stared at the now clean room, fully aware that its owners body was about to jolt out of bed.

Now receding throughout the corridors, the stands of blazing hair bounced energetically as Lavi raced along. On route to the head's office, he'd have to wonder past Allen's empty room. While his footsteps graced this familiar location, his ears picked up a whimper of sound coming from the previously devoid room. The teenager's steps grew curiously close to the door, acquiring his ears more access to hear. _'Sounds like something's being broke... Maybe I shouldn't go in yet...'_ he thought to himself, before turning away back to his room. However, a large bang interrupted him abruptly, followed by a low volume grunt. Swiftly like a cougar, he raced towards the door once more. '_Locked, damn it!_' his mind pondered downwards, as too did his poised hand. It hesitantly gripped around a small hammer supported around his thigh.

"Little hammer, grow, grow, grow!" he shouted, when assured he was alone in the halls. With that the once petite hammer grasped within his burly hands grew exponentially larger. It made quick work of bursting through the door. A shocked, aggravated boy's back awaited on the other side. Lavi's green peeper could see a long white gown, with messy ribbons of hair flying around at the top. "Allen, what's wrong? Why have you activated...?" he said, whilst rushing towards the boy in a quick stride. Before attempting to reach out to grab the smaller teen, Lavi was forced to back away as a claw slashed in his direction.

"Stay away!" Allen's face was now unsightly scrawled up. His human hand had elapsed onto a burning sore patch of skin below his eye. "I'm useless! I can't save anyone! Even you hate me now", with every word that cursed his speech, he grew yet more unstable. His edged claw was now rattling together as his fingers continued to nervously dance.

Lavi peered towards the door, making sure it was secure and no one would be able to hear anything or enter. _'Anyone else coming in might make it harder to calm him down.' _His thoughts darted back to Allen, who was just looking down at his claw. The arm attached tensed slowly and then released, it started to rise into a poised slashing position. _'What's he going to do..?'_ His eye now fully locked onto the arm, watching it ascend upwards. Suddenly the claw came down. With Lavi's quick responses he managed to extend his innocence hammer in order to prevent the claw from connecting.

"Don't you dare stop me; you don't understand how I feel... People aren't just ink to me!"Allen's words grew harsher as he felt the hammer lock stronger into his arm. He spied Lavi's grass colour eye was now twitching.

"I care for people too, you know! Why would I be in here if I didn't give a damn" the coppertop then launched himself forward, simultaneous extending his weapon. He'd managed to lock Allen onto a wall showing only his back to the taller teenager. "This is for your own good" quickly he latched onto the boy's demonic hand, making sure he couldn't hurt himself or Lavi. "Calm down, Allen. Just calm it!" he spoke still gripping tightly, waiting for the moment that his friend would stop struggling.

Although Allen was strong, he'd always relied on his weapon too much in battle, meaning he was nowhere as muscular as his older counterpart. Lavi could hold him down very effectively and decided to just keep clamping him till he was at ease. However his plan was interrupted. Tight ribbons of Allen's innocence, crowned clown, had started to constrict his ankles. They eerily climb up his calves, tightening slowly like a snake killing its prey. A large lump developed in his throat as he felt yet more rope like material crawl along his spine.

He cradled his head above the white haired boys shoulder, "Come on Allen, please." Lavi saw past his strands of hair, showing a boys distressed face. The binds on his legs grew ever stronger, but the tensed arm started to relax. His voice continued repeating the same thing "Allen", spoken in a serene tone with a slight desperation threaded within.

Slowly, the trembling stopped as the comforting voice cured Allen's ears. '_I can hear him... he's gently calling my name'_ thought the snow haired boy, while in a short state of peace. The darkened arm now hung effortlessly, yet was still gripped tightly. Lavi took this opportunity to his advantage; he released the arm, and then held both the boys' shoulders in order to turn him around. It'd worked perfectly. Crowned clown was still activated and compressing the redhead's anatomy, but now it'd also trapped the young man wearing it. Finally the two could look eye to eye and show each other the emotions that could never be heard. One hand lifted off the feather coated shoulder. It prances though the air with the grace of a butterfly, landing with its antennas curled under the younger teen's chin. They teased his chin upwards and gained Lavi yet more access to Allen's youthfully crafted face. His voice began to emanate, "Look at me, does my expression appear false to you?".

Allen's bloodshot yet innocent eyes assessed the transverse facial features. The single visible eye rose upon crimson lashes, laden with simmers of liquid. Adjacent to that signalled the dark secret of Lavi's eye-patch. In its' corner held a pocket of freshly developed tears, clearly showing that there was indeed a tear duct behind it, perhaps even an eye. His mouth had dangled from its usual smile to a controversial frown. The taut lips framed his mouth, displaying his pearly white teeth which anxiously chattered together. Words escaped his mouth, causing Lavi's to twitch "It looks... real to me... Lavi".

The gaze now received by this teenager could only be described as "puppy dog eyes". However, there was no emotion in them. They reflected nothing personal, and merely mirrored the viewers self. '_How can I get him back to normal, what would he do if it were me?' _thought the coppertop, still peering into the dull eyes. He moved his fingers positioned under Allen's chin and quickly embraced the boy around his neck, pulling him close enough to feel their life forces beating away. His head coiled round over his arm to gain greater access to the boy's cute ears.

Clearing his shacking voice with a cough, Lavi began to lecture his embraced partner while feeling their individual heartbeats slowly accelerate "People can't be ink to me, not anymore." His grip tightened and his eye started to feel sore. "In the past 48 wars I've seen people who claimed to be fighting for the greater cause, claim to be protecting those precious to them and claim that what they're doing is truly justice. This inevitable lead to wars continuing on for stupid reason, only ending when one side had completely annihilated the other. Then more wars started because so-and-so killed so-and-so's family member, and the cycle began again. It was at this point I lost faith in the human race, all so savage-like and unjust."

The innocence binds continued to run up his back, and now latched around his neck to slowly choke him. Scared for his life, his heartrate and breathing continued to heighten. Breathlessly, he attempted to speak again "But then...then I came to the Order. I saw pe..pe..people all working to..together. Haah, hah and their names... the names started to come out of the book pages, and into real memories." Now the choking ribbon had now loosened a bit, making it easier for him to talk.

Allen could feel his head start to rise and turn so he could spy on Lavi easier; however he was only greeted by that secretive eye-patch. "La...viiii..." the noise made only created a whimper from his vocal chords.

"Then you, the Destoryer of Time, came to the order. A boy who had no memory of his true family. Who had a foster father that changed his whole life and made him like he is now, just to meet his tragic end twice. All we exorcists hate Akuma, Noahs and the Earl. But you... you're different. You want to be both ours and their savour. I have never met anyone who was so resolute in their future's path. You're so determined, and I respect you entirely for that. I've changed because of you, be it good or not... I'm still unsure" One hand caressed up the younger boys back and started to cradle his snow white hair between delicate fingertips. Droplets began to fall downwards, leaking through crowned clown and touching Allen's porcelain skin. It triggered his mind into completely taking control of everything again.

At last the ropes started to release his body and reeled into Allen's innocence mask. Now the other boy could freely move without his edge claw endangering the air. The small yet powerful arms draped around Lavi's waist, they clenched the material near his shoulder blades and closely held on. Allen felt his heart constricted a little with the warm sensation he now experienced. "I'm glad you're here Lavi. And I'm sorry for all the times I might have got you into deep trouble" a genuine smile shone onto his face as the tears of happiness leaped down his face. The hand disappeared from the back of his head and re emerged to wipe off the freshly made tears.

"And I'm really glad you're back to normal! But really... you're a sentimental cry baby, you hardly ever think things through properly. Then again, you are smart... and pretty much have saved everyone's lives at least 3 times." Lavi's usual cheerful smile finally came out of hiding as he looked down to see Allen was okay. Their rosy cheeks weren't just the result of crying, but also a warm flush that had engulfed them equally.

Unknowingly, something else was actually wrong with the boy. As they both let go to be unshielded from the embrace, the red heads eyes lit up on a huge stain peering through both Allen's sleeve and chest. "Allen, what's wrong no..." he was instantly interrupted when the younger boy's body lifelessly fell forward through the air. Catching him in a bridal like way, Lavi started to check his breathing '_Why's it so slow... And why is he bleeding... We need to go to the nurse office now! How the hell can everything go so wrong in a second?' _he thought as tensed arms lifted the body upwards in one quick motion. His heavy footsteps lead him back to the broken door covered in marks. A quick and precious kick with his boot burst the door open. His desperate voice began to shout as his consciousness felt unbalanced. "Someone... help! Allen's injured, we need to get him to the hea...d ...nuuurss...".

Suddenly, the corridors disappeared.

A/N: Oh my god. Sounds so much like a kinky sex film in some parts. Might be slow on updating for the next week or two cause I have my art exam for 3 days and various maths ones in between D:


	10. The Hidden Witness

Sorrryyy agggaiiinnnnnn for being such a lame updater. I'm actually on easter break so reallyyyy I should have all the time in the world to update this, but I do still have to finish my art project and learn everything about Maths xD However, I was totally unaware that I hadn't updated in over 2 weeks o.0 So... sorrysorrysorrysorry. And sorry for all the OCness D:... but since we know nothing of Lavi's past it was inevitable. Plus, Allen is slow.

_Thinking = italics_

* * *

An out of focus room gloomily presented itself; bright lights stunned the newly opened irises. A small groan crept out as the boy's eyes began to feel a sharp pain.

"Ma'am, he's waking up, what should we do?" The angelic voice spoke from a higher position.

"Just give him another intravenous; we might have to get a scientist to look at this." A duskier voice informed the other.

Still slightly drowsy, Allen's brow knotted itself trying to comprehend what he'd just heard. However, it wasn't long before he felt a soft and supple hand grace his forehead, sweeping his fringe out the way and comforting his cheeks. "I'm sorry to cause you more pain, but you'll only feel a sharp scratch for a mere moment." A quick stab followed as the young nurse expertly administers the drugs.

The world relapsed once again, yet full sight was not restored. Towards the right lacked depth and peripheral vision and instead modelled the profile of a rounded nose tip. The direction of sight darted around the tent-like structure encased around. Shiny pearls on chains draped from the ceiling supports, they blissfully jangled as a windswept into the tent. A sparse amount of royal red and purple pillows spread evenly throughout the surroundings, many covered in pieces of paper and some in items of clothing. Vision once again disappeared momentarily as a loud roar escaped the open gapping mouth. A hand then disturbed the sleet resting in the corner of sight.

"Ezak, are you awake? Get ready...we're leaving by the end of the day", this voice sounded feeble yet energetic. A hand once again rose upwards and started to make rustling noises, causing a fringe of burning red hair to fall across the unfamiliar nose.

Allen thought _'What is this, it's like I'm watching from inside someone's head. But who could it be, I don't know an Ezak... and where in the world are we. This doesn't look like England'_

"Urghhhh, I guess we're done with this war now. Better tidy away all these papers properly so I don't get another kick in the head..." The body Allen was sustained in then moved upwards, weaving in and out of the reflecting jewels suspended around. Its head hung low to see the numerous pieces of paper being picked up. The peering boy could just about make out the writing; it was in an accustomed language, but not English. On the top of one sheet read "Bellum Indicum II", and on another "Bellum Indicum DVI".

His mind again started to ponder '_This looks like something I've seen before, like an old text. Hmmm... I remember Mana reading me something like this. AH! It's Latin. Well... Bellum is war so I guess Indicum must mean... India or Indian? So these are reports on The Indian war huh. And these other symbols are roman numerals of course, meaning number 2 and 506. Wow, there are a lot of pages. Well I'm not sure, but I suppose we're in India. I have no clue where or why though.'_

"I really underestimated just how much I'd wrote, haha. Still can't believe that damned old man told me I wasn't finished yet." The same cheerful voice repeated to itself. Charming hands continued to tidy the adjacent area. Whilst picking up a large book, a smaller piece of paper descended onto the ground. Before the male could re-grasp it, a faint voice echoed from outside.

"Excuse me sir, have you seen a boy with red hair, one green eye and an eye patch? I'm looking for him...Okay... I'll ask someone else... thank you" After hearing it thoroughly, he grabbed the paper and flipped it over. A picture of a boy and girl. Alarm bells rushed into the observing boys mind, _'That's the picture I saw several days ago! And that description...Am I in Lavi's mind?' _His answer need not take long to erupt, as the figure he dwelled in approached a reflective surface. An endearing green eye was peeking around the elongated orange bangs covering an eye patch.

"Well aren't you good looking" He winked into his mirror image, "It is a shame that I'm so noticeable in this country though." His sighing expression erased the previous one of cheek. 'Yep, that's defiantly Lavi' Allen's thoughts seemed to be rash and annoyed.

Lavi exited the tent and waved to the mumbling man while he continued to question the surrounding humans. The face that turned towards him first exhibited shock, followed hastily by sadness. "Finally, I've found you!" He shouted, with a sigh of relief in his voice. His hurried footsteps galloped towards the awaiting teen, making the short mahogany hair standing from his head twist casually. As he grew closer, Allen could spy tired looking brown eyes, sharing the same shade as the hair above. His irises swam in a blood red sea, usually caused by lengthened weeping. The mould laden teeth beneath began to move in order to ask Lavi "May we go somewhere private, I have an urgent issue to address you with."

The fringe movement signified him nodding his head and his voice began to resonate "Follow me then."

They walked for about 5 minutes and finally stopped when they'd entered a disused elephant shelter. "So what is the topic of discussion, sir?" Lavi's head was now slanted facing the gentlemen, giving off the appearance that he had no idea who it could be.

The older man cleared his throat, signifying a long dialog "My name is Daarun Gulia, from the village of Tawdi. I am also the father to Alisha Gulia, I'm assuming you are familiar with her?" His eyes pierced Lavi's. Then his brow lowered while trying to understand the expression facing him. '_Who is this guy, maybe Lavi has no clue either' _Allen was still very unsure of the situation at hand.

"Well anyway, if you need reminding she was the girl with albinism. It seemed... that she took a great liking to you" Darrun's information obviously caught the teen's attention as he now engaged in full eye contact with the opposite figure. "I see we're on the same line now, I'll get to the point then. Alisha has... sadly departed this world", a single drop rolled down his cheek and dispersed upon his uneven stubble. Allen could see Lavi's single eye staring to quiver and liquefy.

"What do you mean she's left this world?" this tone used was the same angry one that Allen experienced when he mentioned the girl before. His single emerald peeper continued to flicker in disbelief.

"Our village was greatly guarded by a smaller army faction, so within the walls everything was fine. However, if you went out of the boundaries you were on your own. Once you left... she decided to look for you." Angry eyes continued to penetrate into Lavi's mind, even Allen felt threatened. "I'm not here for vengeance. She chose to try and follow you, and I'd let my daughter do anything to make her happy." He paused to let out a small laugh, and then proceeded. "To tell you the truth I'd never seen her smile as much as she did when you were in the village, for that I'm thankful. Now, I must get back to the village to sort her funeral out, but before that I must give you this. Please read it, this is what she was holding when we found her body". A small envelop was then forced into the coppertops awaiting hands. He grasped it tightly as he began to wander back to tent.

'_Oh wow, even if this isn't real that's intensively harsh... maybe I'm in his memories?'_ the young boy was still surveying the incident closely.

"Thank you for telling me , I am truly sorry for your loss" Lavi's words raced out his mouth as he carelessly ran back to his tent, knocking some of the passersby off their feet. Salt water defused from his eye while he navigated himself. Once inside he just let his body pathetically plummet to the ground. Still embraced within his right hand was the envelop he'd just received. While bringing it closer to his eyes he could feel a monsoon of tears glide down his rosy cheek.

In neat calligraphy the words "Please give this to the redhead boy with a peculiar eye patch" were written on the top, he sensitively pried the envelop open allowing himself and Allen the ability to read it.

"Dear Junior,

I never did found out what you call yourself did I? I suppose its okay since we did only know each other for two weeks. Still, it would have been nice. Maybe I should say why I'm writing, well... I wanted to say that you were an excellent student. The way you held me close when the music beckoned, and how you put strength into lifting me, yet it was always so gentle. You never discriminated against me just because I have freaky red eyes, the complexion of a ghost or because I can't go outside for long. In my 15 years alive on this planet I don't think I had ever been as happy as when you visited our village. Needless to say, I was quite sad when you just left one day. No goodbye. Not even a sign that you were going. I wanted to tell you how grateful I was, and I wanted to say goodbye. Evidentially... if you're reading this it means I failed in reaching you. But if you, Junior, are reading this then at least you do know what I intended to do. I hope your life is full of wonderful experiences and that you never forget me.

Yours faithfully,

Alisha (I don't think you ever asked for my name)

P.S. Sorry for dying, but know I died happy and I think I was even able to find my first love."

Through the letter Allen was aware that the eye he peered through was getting more and more uncontrollably emotional. '_Wow... How troublesome for him...'_

"Why? Why the hell did this happen. I'm just an onlooker... I should never have helped her, or spoke to her... maybe then... she'd still be alive. I'm such a complete idiot like everyone says." Lavi started to trashed around the room. One hand latched onto a piece of paper, the one with a drawing placed on it. Quickly, it was shoved into an open book, then that was thrown onto another pile of books. After that he crawled onto all fours looking viciously around for something. Finally, his eye targeted an object shimmering in the corner, under yet more reports. His hand flung towards it, pushing the reports off with a quick swift movement. Grabbing at the newly emerged dagger, he then began to manically laugh.

'_What in the world is Lavi doing, it's like he's going crazed. He couldn't have done anything like that could he?_' commented the observing individual.

"Humans really are stupid... But I too am human. Maybe I'll just have to abide by their rules... Like they say a 'life for a life'!" His unstable voice continued rambling nonsense as he edged the dagger closer to his uncovered wrist. '_No, he couldn't. He would never!_' thought Allen carelessly. Lavi then place the knife two thirds of the way up his forearm. Slowly he cut up towards his opened palm, getting deeper as he continued. '_NO LAVI!_' the young teen's thoughts were now screaming in his mind like a desperate lover.

When the release of fresh, bright, crimson blood euphorically notified the older teen of his eminent death he went to repeat the action again. However, he'd slice so deep that now his tendons were severed, making his hand unable to grasp the blade again. While still laughing like a madman he spoke to himself once more. "Hopefully just one side should be enough, well now it's time for me to join all those stupid humans in their stupid hell." Finally, he closed his eye. _'Is he... dead... have I just witnessed his death?'_

"Come on, we have to go now so you better have cle..." a sound of material moving came from the entrance and the new voice spoke again "EZAK!".

A quickened motion exploded Allen's eyes open, straight into a scene of Lavi closed eye facing him in extremely close proximity. "What are you doing?" squawked the awakened teen.

_(A/N: My apologies if the latin is incorrect, I asked a friend and I'm not sure his Latin is too great)_


	11. Unravelling

I'm not sure I can even face up to it nicely. I have been a complete shit and not bothered with this for so long. I'm soososososososoosos sorrrrrrrryyyyyyyy, I really hope to get another chapter done this month though :3 So believe in me hehe ^^; (Apologies in advance if this chapter is too er... sarcastic and jokey)...Over 3 months of no updating... I didn't even realise... I feel terrible _

Thanks for all the reviews and favs so far ^_^ I'm happy that people still want to read this after I'd abused it so much.

_Italics = "memory"/'thinking'_

Bushy crimson hair immediately twisted and launched upwards, causing a few strands to desperately hang onto their previous posture by falling out. A small gust of wind propelled towards Allen's awaiting face. His pupils were still adjusting to the light, but from what he could see, there appeared to be Lavi's lean figure advancing away from him. He attempted to reach out with his left hand but for some reason it wasn't accessible, so he was force to shift his weight onto one side while he crossed his mobile arm towards the shadow. As he reached further he felt sharp stings in both his arm and chest. Two cannulas that were once pierced within his healthy arm had now been violently ripped out, causing a fresh spray of blood to graffiti the bright sheets. "Arghhh, damn it, heh, heh.. That hurt... umm uh, is that you Lavi?" his groaning voice chased through Lavi's mind, enticing it back to his friend's side.

Lavi gazed over briefly while placing his knuckles against his hips, "Oi you, stay still. Maybe you're not aware just where you are". An absence of sound exercised the room of any feelings at all. The coppertop blankly stared towards the exiting door, sighing as he pondered what to say. Sheepishly, he chewed his bottom lip while contemplating what he did a few minutes ago. A low volume sound started to bother his ear drums. His glowing face appeared in Allen's direction as he rushed over to the noises origin. "Sorry Al, I kinda forgot that all the staff went out for a break! I better fix those lines back in, aye?"

"Well that would be quite nice Lavi, it's not like I'm bleeding or anything." He didn't need to see Allen rolling his eyes, he just knew it were fact. "But errr... shouldn't you just wait for the nurse to come back in? In..in..in fact I'm sure that they'll discharge me soon enough, so no worries."

A smiling face descended away from the bedside and a rattling sound began to play softly. "Trust me! There are a lot of things the old man taught me, this just happens to be one". Lavi's mumbles rose up as he searched the adjacent medicine cart. Allen lent over to spy on his company. Both he and Lavi seemed to be wearing the hospital gowns connected to the infirmary.

"What happened to you then?" Flash backs of Allen's dream painfully repeated in his mind.

Almost at the same time, Lavi's large statue grew taller as he reappeared. "Yes, found them!" He shouted, with a vast amount of enthusiasm. "Now this may hurt a bit, but I promise it won't be more than getting shot by an Akuma. Just stay still and everything should be a-oh-kay"

'_Great, he's ignoring me and making foul jokes'_ thought the younger male as he pouted to himself. To the left an image of Lavi stood proud. A concentrated expression focus his only eye on the approaching problem, slightly screwing it up as well as lifting a small bandage attached to his cheek. Although in this state of mind, which Allen named 'Bookman mode', his cheeky grin stayed omnipresent. Following down from his broad chin the patent saw what looked like binding marks. They were such a familiar size to the boy, but he couldn't put his finger on why. His mind began playing tricks by simulating a small snake slowly constricting around the marks, as if ready to kill. Another joined in as Allen's helplessly stared towards Lavi with great distress.

"_Their names... the names started to come out of the book pages, and into real memories."_

"Di-did you just say so-..."

"Sharp scratch!" a small amount of pain lead to the piercing needle laying perfectly in place. "Just one more to go, you're being a good boy" Lavi's pleasant voice interrupted Allen's vision and all returned to normality, apart from the obvious constraint marks.

'_What was that just now? Hmm, they look sort of sore. I want to... touch them to see if they're real... maybe I'm still in a dream. No, I can't be, I defiantly felt some pain then.' _

The paralysed blacken arm stayed absolute. Allen gave it a painful stare, hopeful that it would suddenly jump into action. His mind repeated the same scene over and over. Reaching up towards Lavi, drawing his fingers across that ever so generous Adam's apple to see all the marks simply disappear and then seeing his elated face confusingly ponder towards his friend. Yet every time it echoed, his eyes were drawn from his neck to his wrist.

"_Allen, Allen!... Allen...Al..."_

Shocked, his eyes blitzed opened revealing his darting pair of grey orbs. Lavi's voice kept resonating through the surrounding air, but not from himself. Occasionally, a soft breeze cresset his ear to whisper a soft name. In the direction of his redhead accomplice, not a word poisoned the air. _'Just where is this voice coming from, it's not him talking. Maybe this has happened be...' _a plaguing memory interference in his mind as a certain wrist came into perspective.

"Are you alright, Allen? You seem to be a bit white in the face. Have you lost too much blood?" Lavi frantically looked around for assistance as he let go of all the equipment. "Errm... Ermm... I'll go run around the order till I find the head nurse, okay?", as he slowly pirouetted around he felt a weak grip tug on his gown. With a painful gaze, Allen had conducted his arm of innocence into grasping onto the thin yarn of Lavi's clothing.

"No, no... It's not that... I'm just feeling a bit drowsy still." His voice appeared breathless, yet sung true. The trembling limb crunched tighter, causing a sound like tapping wood to ooze out. "You can stay here a bit longer, right? Don't forget that you haven't finished here yet." His head nudged towards his other arm as a bead of sweat seemingly followed.

A petite murmur elapsed from the redhead's mouth, "Why must you always try so hard?". Another tiny sound stalked him when a fresh tear fell to the ground. He pretended to crack his neck in order to sweep away his remaining tear with his tensed fist.

Receiving the nod, Allen commanded arm returned to his side. Lavi's figure appeared to shadow step back to his previous location. "Well... umm, I best get on with it then!". He continued the procedure with an equal amount of cheekiness and precision as previous, so much so that he didn't notice Allen's dark arm rising towards his eye. "Another sharp scratch, Al", he called from his medical daze. The brief pain caused Allen to twitch, leading his fingers to brush down Lavi's lips. With speed, he yelped backwards while covering his mouth. "Christ, what was that for!" his usual calm and positive expression seemed to have switches to a rather bashful one, partially covered by his wrist.

"I'm sorry Lavi, I was just trying to get something out of your eye but then I twitched...". Allen's ash eyes latched on the small rose petals of blush that varnish his friend's face, which in turn made him feel self conscious as his cheeks reflected the same.

"Oh... okay, sorry for overreacting an' all. Still need any more help, Allen?" His footsteps crept towards the bed once more, and then stopped as he casually posed on the side bars. Using his shoulder, he wiped the side of his face and witnessed some leftover tears vanishing into the fabric. His pearly whites shone through as he tried to brighten Allen's disposition and awaited his answer.

"Yeah, could you help me get out of here" replied Allen with a raw and numb expression. The eyes laden in his head seemed to be zoning in and out of the ceiling.

"You never listen do you, beansprout. You won't be able to get outta here for at least a day or two so you might as well relax, alright?". Yet again Lavi appeared to have calmed the beast of his young friend's determination. "I could always tend to you like a mother until the other nurses come back. You know, stroke your hair, tell you stories and make you porridge!" He spoke with a whimsical grin as his hand launched towards white locks. Just before hand touched hair, he was interrupted by a flick of snow.

"Since I've never really had a mother I don't know what to expect, but you don't need to do anything like that to make me feel better. " The blackened arm once again rose up, this time to provoke a thinking pose. "However, I would take you up on the offer of porridge plus a few extras. But actually, I guess a story would be good as well, heh... Remember when you used to always talk about those women you met on your travels?" Allen's now smiling face charmed its way up to Lavi while they both stayed quite content. He chuckled before shaking his head at Allen's ability to remember such trivial things. "Or perhaps you could tell me the story why we're both in here?" Those grey eyes formed into curious orbs as he tried to extract the answer once more.

"Ahh well what happened there was..." Lavi attempted to make up the most outrageous, yet believable story possible. All the while whilst doing so, Allen's line of sight continuously switched between the coppertop's expressions and his wrist. This curiosity grew and manifested until he threw his hand towards it. As he grabbed it fiercel, Lavi made minimal effort in trying to take it back. "What are you doing, Al...?"

The springs of the bed slowly transformed back into their normal state when the boy had started to lean closer to the part he held. He took note of what he saw; plenty of small scars but there seemed to be a single recurring line upwards. Most of these marks could be accountable from fighting the akuma, bearing in mind Lavi was always the type of fighter to have his sleeves rolled up. Allen's brambled thumb caressed along the middle of the tanned forearm, awaiting any reaction from his friend. He spied the other teen looking uneasy towards this activity, but still not attempting to reject it. Receiving no change he continued to survey the scars. Thinking back to the dream he had to remember the terrible moment at the end. As he gazed down the arm, he compared it to that of the dream. '_There's no denying it... this can't be coincidence.. I saw his past... b..but how?' _Allen's thoughts seemed to have calmed down, yet not really to a positive state. Dazing in and out he didn't particularly notice when Lavi pulled his arm away.

"Sure you're feeling okay? You're acting a bit weird.."

"Eee..zak?" a voice drowned out the bed as Allen's head suddenly dropped back onto his pillow, his quiet snores slowly came to the air.

A loud sound exploded as Lavi fell back in shock. "Wha...what did you just say...". A drop of sweat wondered down his face as he softly began to hyperventilate. '_No, there's no way he'd know about that. No way' _he thought as he tried to propel himself upwards from the floor.

"I... I'm just gonna go get some fo...fo..food now so.. bye for now." Lavi quickly stumbled across the room and out the door. His face first peeked through the corridor, before assessing them to be empty. After that he simply collapsed with his back the newly closed door.

"Destroyer of time, heh" His hand clutched his face as his voice became uneasy. "How could you know such things...Just who are you Allen Walker." With another hand he grasped onto his chest while feeling some pain.

"You just unravelled me with so much ease."


End file.
